


Fragment Six

by blackwatchandromeda



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: 16-Bit Hero, Amnesia, Dad Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Family Bonding, Fluff, Hana Song is a Little Shit, Happy Ending, Jesse McCree & Genji Shimada Are Best Friends, M/M, Memory Loss, Mom Ana Amari, Romance, Self-Discovery, Team as Family, True Love's Kiss, only a little angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-18 00:49:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13670814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackwatchandromeda/pseuds/blackwatchandromeda
Summary: Jesse McCree is a man made up of fragments of other people. Those who taught him, helped him grow, loved him all left tiny pieces of themselves behind in him.But when he wakes with no memory in the heart of Watchpoint: Gibraltar, the fragments are lost.





	1. Fragment Zero

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone! thanks for giving fragment six a shot, and i hope you enjoy. i love any and all feedback so please leave a comment or some kudos if you like the story. c:

When he wakes, he is in a white room.

He's aware of the pounding in his head and the crisp coolness of soft sheets beneath his body, and he can feel some sort of papery gown on his body. He looks around, assessing his surroundings; fluorescent lights are buzzing above him, and he looks away, squinting at their brightness. There's a table next to his bed, topped with a vibrant bouquet of red and purple flowers, and on the other side of it is a bank of monitors. He squints at them, confused; he murmurs the words on the screens subconsciously, and realises they're measuring him. His... heart rate, maybe? Is he in a hospital?

"What the hell?" he mutters.

There's a click from the tan-coloured door on the left side of the room, and he turns his head to see a blonde woman enter. She tucks a curl of hair behind her ear as she stares down at a clipboard in her hands, walking towards the bed and chewing a pen in her mouth. She hasn't yet looked up.

He shifts slightly, on edge, and her head jerks up. Relief and happiness flood across her face suddenly, and she lets out a gasp. "Jesse, you're awake! _Gott_ , I was worried!"

Jesse. Is that his name? "Where am I?"

"Back in Gibraltar. Lena flew back from Ilios as fast as she could, so we were able to stabilise you, thank goodness! Everyone's been so worried for the past week," she says, with an expression that suggests she was definitely included in _everyone_.

"I don't understand," he says, frowning. "Who's Lena? An'... an' who are you?"

Her smile fades slightly. "Excuse me?"

He pushes himself up to a more upright position, and the monitor's beeping increases to match the pounding in his head. "Who are you?" he repeats. "I don't -"

"Oh, _Gott_ ," she murmurs. Before he can react she reaches forward and puts her hands around his head, probing slightly. She touches the back and pain shoots through his skull, and he recoils from her touch.

"Fuck!" he hisses. "What is this? Why ain't you tellin' me anythin'?"

Fear is in her eyes now, and although she tries to disguise it with a smile, he can see her worry. "I'll be back in a second, Jesse. Try to relax," she adds, and sweeps out of the room.

He's left alone, and as he stares after the closing door he rolls the name around in his mouth. "Jesse," he says tentatively. It fits, and he wonders what the second half is. He has a second name, right? He doesn't remember, but he's reasonably sure that's the norm.

He's about to move to get off the bed and investigate where he is when the door opens again.

"Jesse?" the blonde woman asks, stepping inside. "It's me."

He frowns at her. "What's goin' on?"

She takes a breath. "My name is Doctor Angela Ziegler. I'm your doctor. You've been in a... fight, and you seem to be experiencing some sort of amnesia."

"That why I can't remember anythin'?" he asks, suspicious. "You ain't druggin' me or somethin'?"

"Well, we are technically drugging you," Angela concedes, nodding slightly, "but they're medicine. To help you, not... take your memory or anything like that."

"I'm Jesse, right?" he says, and her face turns serious as she nods.

"Jesse McCree. You're one of the members of Overwatch, and we're based here in Gibraltar." She seems to be at a loss for words. "Do you remember anything? Your childhood? The Omnic Crisis, perhaps?"

Jesse shakes his head. "Should I?"

Angela bites her lip. "I don't know. I've checked your vitals and your wound, but I can't find a medical reason why you can't." She must notice that Jesse's expression is turning worried, because she flicks on a bright smile and raises her hands placatingly. "Don't worry, though, I'll fix it. For the meanwhile, you might want to stay here."

"Hell no," Jesse says, raising an eyebrow. "I feel fine, 'part from this shitty headache. I wanna meet some of the others."

"If you're sure," Angela answers. "I'm sure that can be arranged. Do you want to come with me? I'll show you the way."

Jesse nods, and starts to get up when a searing pain stabs through his chest. "Agh!" he grunts, and his hand goes to his chest. He feels bandages beneath the hospital gown, something he didn't notice before.

"Be careful," Angela cautions, reaching out to support him. "You're still recovering."

"From what?" Jesse asks, wincing as he pushes himself to standing.

Angela tells him, "Overwatch is a peacekeeping organisation. You were on a mission, and I believe you were sniped in the chest. Your armour managed to take some of the impact, but your ribs were wounded in the process. Even with accelerated healing they might take a while to be painless."

"How'd I hurt my head? An' why the hell did I go up against a sniper?" Jesse's frowning, confused at his supposed story.

"You were knocked of the roof you were on by the force of the shot. You landed headfirst." Although her tone is steady, Jesse can see her eyes watering. And, hell, he can see the dark, carved grooves under her eyes this close. "I thought I would lose you. It's a miracle we could get back to my proper equipment so quickly."

Jesse nods. He's not really sure how to respond. Angela offers him her arm and he grips it, half-leaning on her and grimacing at the pain in his chest as they head out of the room.

The corridor beyond is long and blank, but mercifully it's only a short hop across to the door Angela is aiming for. Jesse can hear raucous noise coming from within.

"Prepare yourself," she warns, before she knocks on the door and there's a shushing sound from inside.

It opens to reveal a young girl with bright pink facepaint, grinning behind her at the other occupant of the room. "Sorry, Doc, we got a bit carried away -"

That's when she turns her head towards them, and sees Jesse.

"Jesse!" she shrieks, and darts towards him, wrapping her arms around him. "Shit, we missed you!"

Angela begins, "Hana -"

But the girl - Hana - turns round and sticks her head back into the quieted room. "Lú!" she yells. "Jesse's awake!"

There's a fresh wave of exclamation from inside and Jesse tenses, expecting more people to come barrelling out, but all that happens is a dreadlocked man with some kind of speaker in his hand skates into view behind Hana. Jesse eyes him.

"Hana," Angela repeats, a little more urgency in her tone. "Calm down."

Hana's grin fades. "Hey, you okay, Jesse?"

Jesse just stands there, brain whirring and unable to comprehend how to respond to her, and thankfully Angela steps in again. "Jesse is currently experiencing some symptoms of amnesia. Go easy on him," she says, a little quieter.

Hana's face falls completely. "Oh," is all she says.

The skater offers up a grin. "That's alright," he says brightly. "We'll take care of him, Ange."

Angela nods, and carefully disentangles herself as Jesse's support. "I'll be back in a little while to check back up on you," she reassures him. "I have a few errands to run currently, though. Are you happy being left here?"

Her tone is odd; it's professional, but it's forced. It's like she's trying to force herself to talk to a stranger when she wants to behave a lot more informally. Jesse guesses they were friends, although if she's serious like this all the time he's not sure why.

"You want to stay, right, Jess?" the skater prompts. Faint music reaches Jesse's ears.

As weird as this is for Jesse, he concedes that if these people knew him before it must be a trip for them too. He might as well find out about his relationships with them. "Sure," he shrugs, feeling more relaxed.

Hana smiles weakly, and steps wordlessly out of the doorway to let him enter. Jesse pretends not to see her biting her lip so hard it's turning white.


	2. Fragment One

The skater goes over to a comfy-looking arrangement of cushions and sofas, positioned haphazardly in a rough semicircle around a wide TV in the corner of the room. "You going chair or floor?" he asks, grinning.

Jesse shrugs, and smirks back at him. He likes this guy already; something about him . "Whatever you're doin' works for me," he drawls. He's not sure why he suddenly feels so relaxed, but he's not about to complain.

The skater drops down onto a green cushion close to the screen, patting a pale blue one beside him. Jesse sits too, grimacing as he lowers himself. The burning in his chest subsides quickly, though, and when he looks up again Hana flops down right in front of the skater, and he raps her on the shoulder.

"No fair, Hana," he laughs.

She turns and sticks out her tongue at him. "You snooze, you lose. Should've taken prime spot first, Lúc."

Jesse says, "I don't wanna intrude or nothin', but I actually got no clue who you guys are."

"Oops!" Hana giggles and twists round, smiling at him. "I'm Hana Song. World-famous gamer and MEKA pilot. Nice to re-meet you," she jokes.

"Thanks," Jesse says, grinning back at her. "Angela said your name earlier. And you're Lúc, right?" he asks the skater.

He cocks his head slightly. "Not exactly. Lúcio's my full name. Lúcio Correia Dos Santos. I'm more humble than some people you might meet here," he adds, purposefully not looking at Hana, "so _I_ don't have a tagline for why I'm famous."

"Hey, if it's true, why not tell people?" Hana shrugs, taking out a packet of pink bubblegum.

"She has a point," Jesse says, grinning as he shrugs.

Lúcio rolls his eyes. "Seriously? Even with no memory you side with her?" he complains, but he's beaming.

Hana fiddles with the controller on the floor, and the screen powers on. Jesse squints.

"Shit, too bright," she mutters, adjusting the settings to a less offensive intensity.

"Gremlins like Hana don't like bright light," Lúcio says to Jesse seriously, and Hana swats a hand behind her without taking her eyes of the screen

" _Dak-chyo_ ," she shoots back, in a language Jesse doesn't recognise, but it makes Lúcio laugh.

" _Imbecil_ ," he retorts.

Jesse holds his hands up. "I don't think I'd know what you two're sayin' even if I had all my memories."

Hana giggles, and presses a couple of buttons. "LOL," she says, enunciating the letters.

A pixelated loading screen appears on the TV, and Jesse looks up. There's a small animation of a blocky hero running in the corner of the screen.

"What's that?" Jesse asks.

"Console version of _16-Bit Hero_ ," Hana tells him nonchalantly.

Jesse tilts his head. "Huh?"

"It's a shooter game, where you - oh my God," she utters suddenly.

Both Jesse and Lúcio turn to her. "What?" asks Jesse.

"I'm going to have to teach you how to play _16-Bit Hero_ allllll over again," she groans, dropping her head in her hands.

Lúcio starts laughing.

It takes Hana ten minutes to explain to Jesse how to use the controller. No matter how deft he might be handling a gun, he's about as helpless as a fish on land with the clusters of buttons and joysticks.

"Okay, jump over that barrel," Hana instructs, pointing to the screen. They're still stuck on the tutorial level, and she's starting to despair.

Jesse's face is twisted in concentration as he mashes the jump button, and his character performs what looks like a forward roll straight into the obstacle.

Hana can't help it; she starts laughing.

"Wasn't _that_ bad," Jesse protests.

"I didn't even know that was a move," Hana tells him, half-collapsed with laughter.

Jesse rolls his eyes. "She always like this?" he asks Lúcio, who's currently mixing a collection of songs together.

"Oh yeah," he answers absentmindedly, earning a smack on the arm from Hana.

"Come on, Jesse. Let's crack this," she orders, calming herself down. "You've done it before, you can do it again!"

Jesse gives her a grin. "You sure?"

Hana nods decisively. "Just press it twice. _Just_ twice," she emphasises.

Jesse goes for it, pressing the button, and his character does a neat flip over the barrels.

"Nice!" Hana exclaims, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "I knew you'd get it!"

"Don't it get a hell of a lot harder from here, though?" Jesse asks doubtfully.

"Psssh." Hana shrugs. "Not until, like, the fifth level. The first ones are just jumping for lols."

Lúcio says, "It's true."

Jesse rolls his eyes. "What the hell, let's do it, then."

"Yes!" Hana grins.

Jesse gets through the first five levels relatively quickly, only missing a couple of jumps, and Hana moves to take the controller back to demonstrate how to fight and beat the next stages. Unexpectedly, though, Jesse moves it away from her.

Hana raises an eyebrow, and Jesse holds up a hand. "Hold your horses, Hana. I'm gonna try somethin'."

The level starts much the same as before, with a couple of jumping puzzles Jesse clears first try, and then he's face to face with the first boss of the game.

"You shall not pass!" intones the boss in a sonorous tone.

"Hang on," Lúcio interjects, looking up, "Isn't that -?"

"Like, ninety percent of this game is plagiarised references," Hana says, waving a hand.

Jesse's focused on the screen, and as the boss hurls a ball of lightning at his hero he moves. His character dodges easily and returns fire, hitting the boss in the critical hitbox.

"How did you know...?" Hana trails off, frowning, staring at the screen.

Jesse doesn't respond, just dances closer and attacks harder. The boss' health depletes rapidly. He doesn't consciously know what he's doing but it's working, and so he carries on until the health bar is at zero, and the melodramatic death animation plays.

"What the hell, Jesse? You've been holding out on me!" Hana accuses.

Jesse frowns, lost in thought. "I don't think I was."

_"So when you're fighting bosses the key is dodging," Hana said excitedly, demonstrating. "If you dodge you can return fire, and if you do both those things you can kill the boss no matter how long it takes."_

_"Well, if it takes more than a couple minutes I'm gonna get bored, Dee," Jesse chuckled._

_Hana gave him a confident grin. "Patience, my student," she said, making her tone airy. "Bet you can't do it, then."_

_Jesse snorted. "Student my ass," he retorted, and promptly beat the boss in just about two minutes._

_Hana jumped up, punching the air. "Yes! Reverse psychology for the win!"_

_"You are fooling literally nobody here, Hana," Lúcio said, grinning. "You didn't think he could win first time."_

_"No, I did!" Hana answered defensively, folding her arms. Lúcio and Jesse gave her matching dubious expressions, and she flopped back down onto the floor, throwing her hands up. "Fiiine," she sighed. "1v1 me then, McCree, prove you've got skills."_

_"McCree? You gettin' serious, then?" Jesse joked, watching Hana retrieve the second controller for the console._

_"You know it," the gamer replied, entering duel mode. "Prepare to get rekt, scrub."_

_From the sofa, Lúcio puts his head in his hands._

"I remember," Jesse breathes. "First time you taught me."

Hana shifts to a kneeling position, mouth open. "Seriously?"

"I remember... so much about you two," Jesse says, sorting through the memories suddenly trickling through the crack in his amnesiac floodgate. "I remember when you didn't sleep for three days 'cause you ate so much sugar," he laughs, gesturing at Hana.

Lúcio laughs. "Oh, man, I remember that! I think I got a recording of you being all spacey."

Hana raises an eyebrow. "Anything about Lú coming up, Jesse?"

Jesse's smile spreads into a shit-eating grin. "How about the time he tried to buy a frog and got swarmed by fans? An' we had to go in and rescue him, remember?"

"Holy shit, I forgot about that," Hana cackles.

The memories come slowly, and they don't seem to be about anything unrelated to Hana or Lúcio, but it's a start. Elation fills Jesse at the restored memories. He has a chance; he might be able to build them back up until he can remember everything.

For now, though, he's content, and so he stays there with the youngest members of Overwatch, remembering stories from all three of them, laughing on the floor together.

 


	3. Fragment Two

A couple of hours later, Angela comes back into the games room. Lúcio's showing Jesse his latest track, a remix of one his Synesthesia songs. Hana is still cross-legged on the floor, finishing off Jesse's progress on 16-Bit Hero.

"What do you think?" Lúcio asks.

Jesse grins. "It's pretty good. That your speedy song?"

Lúcio nods, beaming. "Yeah. I've been trying to change it up to give it some healing, so it can do both at the same time."

"Nice job," Jesse tells him, and in that moment there's a knock at the door and everyone looks up to Angela come in.

"Hey, Doc," Hana greets before she turns back to her game.

Jesse rubs the back of his neck, though he can't explain why. "Hi," he says awkwardly. Was there a nickname he used to call her? He thinks there was, but it's hazy in his mind.

Angela gives him a smile. "How are you doing? Do you want to head back to the medical bay?"

"Uh, sure. Somethin' wrong?" Jesse asks, frowning.

"Not exactly," Angela admits, "but a mission is coming in. There'll be more people arriving."

Jesse raises an eyebrow. "You not lettin' me meet them, or...?"

"Of course, if you want to," she says, frowning slightly, "but I'm concerned it might be overwhelming for you."

"Might help jog his memory more. To see them," Hana points out, eyes still on the screen.

Lúcio grins. "Yeah, we got Eastwood to remember Hana's game. Maybe the others can do more?"

Angela's eyes widen. "Really? That's fantastic!" she says, beaming.

Jesse wrinkles his nose. "'S only a couple of bits at the moment. Just these two."

"But it's hugely promising," Angela tells him, before she returns to the. "There are a few people arriving who might be... distressed to see you like this. I would recommend being careful how you decide to show yourself."

Jesse shrugs. "I mean, I was just gonna walk up to them like we did here."

Angela hesitates.

Hana says casually, "You have special relationships with a bunch of them, dumbass."

Jesse doesn't miss the glare Angela shoots towards Hana as she tries to recover. "If that's what you want, Jesse," she concedes. "They're about to descend in a minute or two."

"Great," Jesse says, pushing himself to his feet and trying to conceal his pained expression from Angela. He doesn't know how high this factors on the should-be-hurting scale, and he doesn't want to seem like a wimp when he's supposed to be this sharpshooting Overwatch gunslinger. "Lead the way, then."

They make it halfway to the end of the corridor when the wide, segmented door begins to ratchet up and noise floats over to them.

"You did not!" a synthesised-sounding voice accuses, laughter in the tone.

"Nah, I totally did, luv," shoots back an accented female.

The robotic voice retorts, "I don't believe you for one second, Lena."

The door clanks to a stop, and Jesse squints at the five figures silhouetted against bright blue sky and orange-tinted rock. One is bulky and twice the size of the others, and next to it is a smaller, slim shape. The next two silhouettes are equally spiky, and the final figure takes a step forward.

"It does seem unlikely," a deep voice points out.

"C'mon, Winston, don't -"

That's when Jesse and Angela are noticed, and the smaller figure cranes its neck.

"Is that Jesse?" asks the female voice.

Jesse raises a hand. "Hey, everyone."

The figures all come forward at once with cries of surprise and, as the door closes, their faces move into the light. Jesse sees a small woman and a taller, dark-skinned one wearing some kind of armour beside a Japanese man with a bridge piercing. Most surprising, though, are the omnic and the - is that a fuckin' monkey? he thinks.

Jesse holds up his hands before they mob him, letting out a sheepish chuckle. "I'm just gonna come right out an' say it," he begins, with a glance at Angela. She gives him a nod, and he turns back to the others. Their expressions have faded slightly, concern showing through in most of them. "I'm in a lil' tricky situation right now and I can't remember much, so I'd mighty appreciate it if you could all... y'know, introduce yourselves," he prompts.

The short woman frowns immediately. "What do you mean _much_ , luv?" she asks.

"Everythin'. Uh, except for Hana and Lúcio," he says, jerking his thumb back down the corridor. "An' Angela's explained what I'm doin' here, so that too."

There's a pause.

"If this is a joke it's not funny, Jesse," the omnic says, tone flat.

Angela sighs. "I wish it was, Genji. Unfortunately right now we are going to have to let Jesse's amnesia resolve itself, as I can't find a medical reason for the memory loss. We thought talking to some of you would help him."

The man on the end, the one with half-shaved black hair and an already stony expression, seems to shut off entirely. "Excuse me," he mutters, and pushes past Angela down the corridor. The others stay, although the tanned woman looks like she wants to do the same thing.

The giant monkey adjusts his glasses. "Uh... well, Jesse, my name is Winston."

"You're a monkey," Jesse blurts.

Winston hmphs. "Yes. I'm also a scientist, inventor and tactician. And the current unofficial leader of Overwatch."

Jesse pauses. "And a monkey."

"Could we please move off monkey?" Winston murmurs.

The tiny woman next to him offers Jesse a grin, akin to Hana's in the clear pity behind it. "I'm Lena Oxton."

"Are you the pilot?" Jesse asks, remembering Angela's mention of her earlier.

"Yup," she affirms brightly.

He nods, and the tanned woman is next to introduce herself. "This is so weird," she mutters, and Jesse notices black detailing around her eye. He doesn't know what the symbol means. "Fareeha Amari. Glad you're awake," she says, and Jesse can see a flash of worry in her eyes.

Fareeha nudges the omnic, who Jesse assumes is Genji, and he shifts slightly. "My name is Genji Shimada," he says, bowing lightly. "It is an honour to meet you again, Jesse."

Jesse nods at them. "Thanks. I... sorry I don't remember," he says, embarrassed.

"No, luv, it isn't your fault!" Lena tells him, clapping him on the shoulder.

Winston nods, echoing the sentiment. "It's completely fine, Jesse. But we do need to get to debrief," he adds, and the others nod.

"Catch up later, okay?" Fareeha promises, and when Jesse nods she returns the gesture and sets off past them. Lena gives him a little wink before she vanishes, leaving a glowing trail of blue.

"Shit!" Jesse curses, leaping back from where she was.

"Sorry!" Lena calls back, and he's barely turned to see her before she zips away again.

Genji and Winston follow their teammates, neither really saying much to Jesse. He watches them go, and Angela checks her watch.

"I didn't realise how late it was," she comments. 10:48, the digital watch reads. "Curfew to be inside base starts at eleven. You should probably get to your room and try and get some sleep. Your injury means you need rest," she explains.

Jesse nods. "Sure. Where is it?" he asks reluctantly. He hates not knowing, being aware of this gap in his memory.

"The choice is yours, Jesse. You can stay in your old room or the medbay; either is fine," Angela reassures him.

"Where's my old room?" he asks.

Angela leads him to it without asking any questions. It's in an adjacent corridor, and Jesse's already lost track of where they are in relation to the medbay. He's not really sure how he could know this building well at all; maybe he used to have a good sense of direction?

"There's a bathroom inside your room," Angela tells him suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts, "and you're actually just about opposite the common room."

The door opposite him is covered in pink decals and random memorabilia, and he guesses it's Hana's room. The one to the right, diagonal across the corridor, is the one Angela points to.

"You can find food and drink in there if you need it," she says. "If you need me at any point, there's a medic call point in there. It's white and red; you can't miss it. And if you require anything else, just knock on Hana's door. She'll answer."

"She doesn't sleep, does she?" Jesse asks wryly.

Angela rolls her eyes. "No, despite how much I tell her to."

"Damn streams," Jesse jokes.

Pleasure flushes Angela's expression. "You really do remember them, then. I honestly can't explain it."

The easy atmosphere dissipates slightly, and Jesse moves towards the door as if to signal to her. Thankfully, Angela takes the hint and bids him goodnight before she slips away in the opposite direction.

Jesse opens the door to a darkened room smelling of smoke. He flicks the switch just inside the doorway, and light floods the room. There's a pile of neatly folded clothes on top of a messy bedspread, and Jesse guesses immediately the folding is not his doing. There's a pack of brown bottles in the corner, and a half-empty case of cigars on the bedside table. The curtains are drawn.

Jesse frowns, inspecting the clothes. They look like something out of a Western movie, like the one he remembers watching with Lúcio. The kid came up with a nickname for him afterwards, he remembers, _Eastwood_. His dress sense seems to be the reason. He digs around for a bit, finding a wallet and a lighter in the pocket of the trousers. The wallet is worn brown leather, and he finds a picture in the clear compartment. He can't remember it being taken, but he can recognise a couple of people. There's a huge hulking man in the back, missing one eye. Jesse doesn't recognise him, the short bearded guy in the front, or the two people on the edges on the photo. He guesses, though, that the blonde teen is a younger Angela, and the child has the same hair as Fareeha. And... if he apparently wears cowboy clothes now, that teen with the cowboy hat is likely him. That just leaves the three people to the left of the image; Jesse feels like he knows them, but can't place where. The woman looks similar to kid Fareeha, so she could be her mother, Jesse mulls.

He looks at the lighter next, putting the photo on his lap. Red and gold, just like the cloth in his pile of clothing. He flicks the top and bright flame shoots out, hovering happily in his hand. Jesse reaches for the cigar he was inspecting, and turns it over a couple times. He sees the burned end and decides to relight it, watching as the flame turns it molten orange. Jesse raises it to his lips cautiously, and breathes.

Sweet smoke fills his lungs, and he's not sure what he was expecting but suddenly he starts coughing. It tickles all the way down, and he splutters as he tries to breathe, unused to the sensation. He's taken a full lungful of the cigar and he coughs again, hacking up smoke.

"Jesse?" comes a voice, and suddenly his door slams open and there's Genji standing there. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Jesse answers, coughing again. "Ain't got a clue why I like those."

Genji laughs, outright. "I never thought I would see Jesse McCree dislike the taste of a cigar."

Jesse chuckles. "It's fuckin' foul," he confides.

Genji pauses for a second. _Scanning the room or some shit_ , Jesse thinks.

Eventually, he asks, "Would you like help with that photograph?"

Jesse looks down at it, surprised. "You know it?"

Genji nods. "I was around in the original Overwatch. With you. We were in a special division."

Jesse considers for a second, before he moves up on the bed and Genji takes it as an invitation to sit. "Why aren't you in this, then?" Jesse asks.

Genji tilts his head. "I joined a few years later," he explains. "You were there a lot earlier than me."

"Oh," Jesse says. It makes sense. "So I worked out that's Fareeha, right?" he says, pointing, "And I think that's Angela. And me."

Genji nods. "Correct," he says amusedly. "These two are Reinhardt Wilhelm and Torbjörn Lindholm." Genji points to the tallest and shortest man. "They're actually currently on their way to aid in our efforts. This is General Gabrielle Adawe, and Liao. I... must admit, I never knew Liao. He went missing before I properly met him."

"Missin'?" Jesse frowns.

"I don't think anyone knows what actually happened to him," muses Genji. "But that's a story for another time. Do you remember these three?" he asks, pointing to the trio of adults to the left.

"I feel like I knew them," Jesse admits, "but no."

"Ahhh," Genji sighs, making a hissing noise. "You were very close to them. This man, Strike-Commander Jack Morrison, led Overwatch. This was his second-in-command. Captain Ana Amari. Fareeha's mother. And... Commander Gabriel Reyes," Genji finishes, pausing slightly on the last name.

"Who was he?" Jesse asks.

Genji pauses. "He led the division we were in," he says, sounding like he's choosing his words carefully. "He was like a father to you."

Jesse looks at the man, so darkly dressed in contrast to everyone else, save maybe himself. He stares at his face, confident and scarred, tries to feel a connection. He doesn't. "Are they comin' too?" he asks.

Genji hesitates, and Jesse looks up. "None of them are alive."

Jesse frowns. He feels like there's so much to this section of his story Genji isn't telling him, like he's a fly trapped in some huge spiderweb. So he decides to move away before he becomes too entangled in it, and changes the subject.

"Who was that guy in the hall earlier? Left all sulky?"

Genji snorts. "I would love to see his reaction to being called sulky. That's Hanzo, my older brother."

"Brother?" Jesse asks, frowning. "But you're not the same... uh..."

Genji's visor flashes. "Ah. I know what's happening."

Genji reaches up without explanation, and presses the back of his neck and front of his jaw simultaneously. There's a hissing sound and half of his faceplate moves forward smoothly. Genji takes hold of it and slides it away. Half his face is visible, from his eyes to above his chin; the calm, bright eyes do nothing to dispel Jesse's horror at the crisscross of deep scarring covering Genji's pale skin.

"I am, in fact, human," he says simply.

"Shit," Jesse breathes. "I'm sorry."

Genji waves a hand. "Don't worry," he says casually. "A lot of people think I am an omnic because of my appearance. You are not the first."

Jesse eyes his body, all shining chrome and green lights. "How much of a dick move is it to ask what happened?"

Genji smiles. "It's fine," he says. "I was beaten in a fight many years ago, and was rescued by Overwatch. By Dr Ziegler specifically, in fact."

Jesse frowns for a second. "You mean Angela, right?" he asks. He didn't bother committing last names to memory; only first names to remember.

Genji nods. "Sorry. Yes. She rebuilt me and gave me another chance in Overwatch."

"So we were in this special division, right? Why?" Jesse asks.

Genji shrugs. "We were exceptional marksmen. And we were... less savoury types than some."

"What, you mean like criminals?" Jesse's not sure how the idea sits with him.

"Yes, but neither of us by choice. And we more than made up for our mistakes," Genji remarks.

Jesse lets this settle for a moment. "Exceptional, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," Genji chuckles. "It was the only reason we were friends, initially. We were the only ones accurate enough to challenge one another. Forced to be training partners."

His explanation is starting to sound more familiar to Jesse, and it's clicking with what he already knows. "Show me," he says.

Genji frowns. "Sorry?"

"Show me," Jesse repeats. "I wanna see how good you are."

And so Jesse finds himself being led to the training range with Genji at midnight.

"I dunno how the fuck you guys know your way around here," he says, making Genji laugh and tap his reattached visor.

"Only because I have GPS," he jokes.

The training range is a long room with a partition between the shooting area and the targets, and it's dark when they arrive. From what Jesse can see, it must be automated. He can't see any way to get into where the targets are.

"Athena," Genji says to nobody. Jesse frowns.

"Yes, Agent Shimada?" comes a voice, and Jesse nearly leaps out of his skin.

"The fuck!?" he exclaims.

The voice - Athena? - says, "Apologies, Agent McCree. I had forgotten you are unused to my prescence."

Jesse stares at Genji. "What the hell is that?"

Genji shrugs. "Winston's AI. She watches over everything here."

"I am not _Winston's_ AI," Athena points out, somewhat snarkily. "He is my creator, not my owner."

"Sorry," Genji calls, then mouths at Jesse. _She's so picky._

"My camera system is fully functional, Agent Shimada."

Jesse restrains a grin.

"Could you run the training simulation, please, Athena?" Genji asks, somewhat wisely changing the subject.

"Certainly, Agent Shimada," is the response, and suddenly the targets all come springing upright and the lights inside the partition flick on.

Genji flicks his wrist, and suddenly there are three shiruken in his hand.

"Sweet," Jesse murmurs.

"Watch closely," Genji tells him, and Jesse swears he can almost see the cyborg smirking underneath his visor.

"Simulation begins in 3... 2... 1..." Athena announces.

Genji goes and suddenly he's flinging shiruken with deadly accuracy, sinking the weapons into bot after bot. Jesse watches, openmouthed.

" _How_?" he asks, jaw still hanging open.

Genji shrugs, though his body language is proud. "It's a gift. You have it too."

"Not anymore," Jesse says, and he knows it's true. Jesse has no idea how to even hold a gun, much less fire it like that.

"Reset, please, Athena," Genji calls, and comes closer to Jesse. "I swiped your gun from your room when we decided to come here," he explains, handing it over to the cowboy.

"Where we you _hiding_ that?" Jesse asks, staring at him.

"Do you want to know, though?" Genji counters philosophically.

Jesse wrinkles his nose. "Nope."

"Smart. So hold it here," Genji says, manipulating Jesse's hand around the firearm, "and put your finger - _don't_ pull the trigger yet."

Jesse flushes. "Shit. Sorry."

Genji laughs, but continues. "Stand however feels comfortable, and then just... go for it."

"That's seriously all I need to know?" Jesse asks, confused.

Genji shrugs. "That's all you told me. If it doesn't work it's your fault," he tells Jesse, visor flashing.

Jesse rolls his eyes but takes up what seems like a comfortable stance in front of the range.

"Simulation beginning in 3... 2... 1..."

Jesse fires once and the recoil nearly makes him drop the gun in surprise, but when he recovers from his shock he realises he's shot a perfect hit in the centre of the bot's head.

"Nice job! Told you you have a gift." Genji laughs, nudging him. "Keep going."

Jesse takes down the rest of the bots, slower than Genji but just as accurate, and when it gets down to the last couple Genji shoots out shiruken and steals his kill.

"Hey! Don't go stealin' my kills," Jesse complains.

_They stood there, one moody with arms folded and the other in a deceptively relaxed stance. Genji glared at Jesse, all red wires and moody expression. For his part, the cowboy wasn't particularly pleased at having to deal with the sullen cyborg who'd attacked him a couple of days earlier._

_"So," Jesse said. "Partners, huh?"_

_Genji scowled. "Not by choice, American._

_Jesse shrugged. "Well, you better get used to it. I didn't get moved off my last trainin' partner for months 'til you came along. We'll probably be together a hell of a lot longer."_

_Genji said nothing, just glared at the cowboy._

_"Anyway, I'm dyin' to see what you can actually do, ninja kid. What d'you use, anyway, some ancient martial arts shit or what?"_

_Genji flicked his wrist, revealing three shiruken in his hand. "Something like that," he replied, slightly less coldly._

_"Holy shit," Jesse chuckled, grabbing one of them before Genji could stop him. "Fuckin' sharp, ain't they?"_

_Genji nodded. "I had to do something while waiting to be allowed to move, after all."_

_Jesse gave him a grin. "Can I try it?"_

_"What?" Genji asked, frowning._

_Jesse's grin widened as he raised an eyebrow. "Your thingies. Show me how to throw them an' I'll teach you 'bout guns."_

_Then it was Genji's turn to raise a sarcastic eyebrow. "You think I don't know how to use a gun? I am a Shimada. I have been trained in almost every weapon known to man," he said, advancing slightly._

_Jesse waited._

_"Except guns," Genji conceded, shoulders sagging slightly. "Fine, American. But this won't become a habit."_

_"Sure thing, Shimada," Jesse cooes._

_"Don't steal my kills."_

The crack in his mental barrier widens just a little.

"Peacekeeper," he murmurs.

"What did you say?" Genji asks.

Jesse holds up the gun. "She's called Peacekeeper, ain't she? I named her."

Genji lets out a pleased noise. "Yes," he says. "You remember?"

"I know everythin' you just told me was bullshit," Jesse accuses, grinning. "You were never a match for me."

Genji's visor flashes brightly. "Excuse you, cowboy. I was better."

"We'll see about that," Jesse retorts. "Athena, can you keep track who scores the most bots?"

"Certainly, Agent McCree. Beginning reset."

Athena starts resetting the system, the bots moving back to their original positions and being replaced if needed, and Jesse plays with Peacekeeper. "Genji," he says suddenly, as something occurs to him.

"Hmm?"

Jesse flips the gun on his finger absentmindedly. "What'd I do to make your brother hate me?"

" _Hate_ you?" Genji asks, sounding incredulous.

"Mm," Jesse hums. "Bolted real quick earlier. Obviously doesn't like me, y'know? Just wonderin' why."

Genji pauses. "Jesse, Hanzo does not hate you. Far from it."

Jesse looks up, frowning. "So why...?"

"I am not the person you should be discussing this with," Genji cautions. "I am not aware of the full story. I suggest you seek out Hanzo."

Jesse nods. "Sure."

"Reset complete," Athena informs them.

"Thanks," Jesse says to empty space.

"Ready?" Genji asks, looking at him sideways.

"Hell yeah," Jesse responds.

"Simulation beginning in 3... 2... 1..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for reference, the photo jesse's looking at is the sepia one of the old overwatch members: http://images.eurogamer.net/2015/articles/1/8/4/2/9/2/8/146833431131.jpg/EG11/resize/600x-1/quality/80/format/jpg
> 
> please leave a comment if you're enjoying! i'd love to hear what you think so far. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Genji goes for it immediately, taking down three at once, and Jesse gets two kills in the first instant. Genji takes down another triple and Jesse curses. He's going to need to get creative, to use... his gift.

Jesse breathes in, focusing on the targets, ignoring the green blur that is Genji. Ten targets. Six bullets. Hit at that particular angle, right there, and the bullet will fracture and hit twice. Time slows for a second and Jesse narrows his eyes, exhaling as he pulls the trigger.

Six shots resound through the training range, and several bots crumple from the impact before Genji's shiruken can hit them. The cyborg swears good-naturedly.

"Simulation complete," Athena announces. "Agent Shimada: ten. Agent McCree: twelve."

"Bloody hell," Genji says, using a couple of Lena's favourite words. He looks over at Jesse, expecting the cowboy to be doing some idiotic victory dance. Instead, he looks just in time to see Jesse collapse to the ground.

"Shit, Jesse!" Genji curses, skidding over.

"'m fine..." Jesse groans. Fire is burning through his chest, liquid flame that's searing his bones.

Genji swears again. "I shouldn't have brought you here with that injury. _Shit_!" he repeats, and darts over to the wall and the medic call point. Jesse barely registers him speaking in an urgent tone into the device.

"Just hold on, okay? Angela is coming with her staff," Genji says anxiously. "What happened?"

"Dunno," Jesse answers, gritting his teeth. _God_ , it hurts. "Used Deadeye and it fuckin'... _shit_."

By some miracle, it's only about a minute before Angela turns up. When she sees Jesse, she lets out an uncharacteristic swear.

"What were you _thinking_ , Genji?" she asks, staring at him with horror.

"I apologise, Angela," he says, trying to keep his tone steady. "I didn't think."

Angela turns on her staff, directing it towards Jesse, but it's clear it only alleviates some of the pain. Jesse moans as the healing light hits him; it's too soon replaced with a grimace. "I need proper medical equipment," she states. "This is a serious wound, Jesse, I'm going to give you sleep serum to get you back to the medbay -"

"No, I'm fine, can walk, no drugs," Jesse protests, and gets up to prove it. But as soon as he moves a fresh wave of pain rips through his chest and he collapses even lower, making Angela cry out.

"I'm sorry, Jesse," she apologises, and he feels something stab into his thigh before he blacks out.

~~~

Jesse wakes to find himself in the same medical room as he was in yesterday.

"Fuck's sake," he groans when the sensation of aching hits him. His chest is tight, and painfully tense.

"Welcome back, Jesse," comes a voice, and he jumps in the bed as he spots Angela sitting on the other side of his bed. "Don't worry, you haven't been out long."

Jesse grimaces. "What happened?"

"You tore several muscles in your chest while shooting with Genji, and managed to undo all the work I did healing you initially," Angela explains. It's clear she's prepared the reasoning.

"Doesn't sound good," he mutters.

Angela lets out a laugh, putting a hand to her forehead and closing her eyes. "No, it's definitely not. I thought I'd done a good enough job on repairing the connective tissue around your ribs, but it seems like I didn't attach them in a way to accommodate your natural movement, and on top of that you are still experiencing the amnesia symptoms which I cannot explain -"

"Hey, hey," Jesse interrupts, frowning. "Don't spiral, alright? I'm okay," he tells her, hoping it sounds reassuring.

Angela exhales. "Okay," she repeats.

Jesse pats the bed, and she comes and perches on the edge. " _You_ okay?" he asks.

"Yes. Sorry," she sighs. "I... I suppose I just feel responsible for your condition, but I don't know how to make it better."

Jesse shrugs. "Even if you did make me forget, you saved me from dyin', Angela. An' anyway, I'm startin' to remember more."

Angela perks up at that. "Like what?"

Jesse mimes a finger gun. "Remembered trainin' with Genji in the middle of our little shootin' session. Remembered Deadeye."

Angela raises both eyebrows, looking simultaneously relieved and shocked. "That's a very good sign," she murmurs. "Maybe your amnesia will resolve itself."

Jesse hums. "Mm. Hope so."

"I'm sorry I can't do more," Angela apologises, and Jesse looks at her to see her biting her lip. "I'm so focused on trying to heal your physical injury that I don't have many resources to devote to your psychological symptoms."

A thought occurs to Jesse then. "Don't you have that magic stick, though?" he asks.

"Staff," Angela corrects absentmindedly. "I do, yes, but I believe the bullet that wounded you was coated in some sort of anti-biotic chemical. My Caduceus equipment doesn't seem to have any effect besides mild pain relief. So I'm relying on traditional methods, which, of course, work, but they need more time to do so." She pauses to shoot a look at Jesse. "I'm not blaming you, since you don't have the awareness right now, but Genji should have known better than to show you shooting. You need rest, not physical exertion. Walking and mild strain is fine, but Deadeye..." Angela shakes her head. "I still don't understand what it does to you at the best of times, Jesse. Using it in this context is incredibly dangerous."

Jesse nods. "Sorry, Angela," he says, and he's struck by the feeling he's said that phrase many times before.

She waves a hand. "Don't apologise to me. Apologise to yourself and your injury if you want to say sorry," she says wryly.

"Sorry, me," Jesse says immediately, and Angela laughs.

"Ridiculous," she says, giggling.

Jesse just grins at her.

Angela reaches for her clipboard. "Anyway," she says, more to herself than him, "I have some checks I'd like to carry out, if that's alright?" She pauses to let Jesse respond, and he nods. "Are you in any pain?"

Jesse shakes his head. "Not right now."

Angela notes it down in her trademark semi-legible scribble. "Aching?"

"Yeah, pretty tight. 'Round my chest," Jesse tells her.

"Amnesia?"

"Same."

Angela nods. "Alright. The new measures I've put in place seem to be adequate for now. Hopefully, they will be able to counteract the anti-biotic fluids in your wound and allow me to heal it using my Caduceus technology."

Jesse frowns. "What exactly happened?"

Angela looks at him, surprised. "You want to know?"

Jesse nods.

"Well," Angela begins. "It was a routine mission save for the fact we didn't know Widowmaker would be there. She is... the enemy sniper," the doctor explains. Jesse gets the feeling there's more to be said about her, but he doesn't press. "She seemed to possess some unknown substances, and just as we were about to retreat she lined up a shot on you. We were distracted at the time; we were not ready to deal with both her and the main enemy forces. You fell off the roof and hit the ground before I could even hope to catch you."

Jesse grimaces. "Sounds bad."

"It was bad," Angela agrees. "It would have been simpler had the bullet been a regular one, but unfortunately this was a special case. I'm unaware if these chemicals contributed to your amnesia, actually. I'm not sure; I have never seen them before."

"Where'd it happen?" Jesse asks, curious.

"Ilios," Angela tells him. "In Greece. See..." she adds, trailing off as she takes a handheld tablet from her pocket. In a few taps she's brought up a picture, and she shows it to Jesse.

It's idyllic, really, a coastal town by the sea. Jesse can't say he knows why there are a bunch of ruins in the centre of the shot, but

"It was this roof, here," Angela explains, pointing, and Jesse stares.

" _Alright, agents, I'm ordering a full retreat," Winston barked through the comms line. "Fall back. We don't know what kind of weapons Widowmaker and her team possess."_

_"Copy."_

_"Understood."_

_"Sure thing," Jesse answered, scanning the battlefield below._

_Talon's forces were beating back Overwatch significantly, the combination of omnic foot soldiers and human agents pushing them into a difficult situation. Jesse spotted a blue blur moving around below him, zipping around the ruins. In the opposite corner he saw Genji, trying and failing to hold his position against the forces converging on him. Pharah, rapidly running out of jet fuel. Lena, finally getting caught and cornered._

_"Winston, we got trouble," Jesse said. "Too many hostiles to retreat."_

_He could almost hear Winston's mind grinding through the radio. "You have eyes. What do you suggest?"_

_"I'm gonna take these bastards down," Jesse told him, tone hard._

_"Understood. Sending Mercy your way for backup," the scientist said, and Jesse's brows lowered as he stared at the ruins and the Talon agents among them._

_"Step right up," he murmured to himself. He had never aimed at this many at once with Deadeye, but it was worth it. Jesse focused, honed the focus into precision and fanned the hammer, pain reverberating through his skull as over half the enemies fell._

_Jesse grinned. "Winston, I got -"_

_Something slammed into Jesse's chest and he let out a yell, staggering backwards as cold slid across his torso. He glanced down to see crimson there, and he was dimly aware of someone yelling something in his ear. Jesse took another step back, unbalanced and dizzy, and another._

_He plummeted off the roof._

"Fuck," Jesse curses, tearing himself away from the memory.

Angela looks startled. "What's wrong?" she asks.

Jesse shakes his head. "Just... rememberin' that is so much worse than the others."

"You mean... you remember the incident?" Angela questions, clearly astonished.

He nods. "Yeah. Came back to me when you showed me that picture."

Angela bites her lip. "Obviously, that isn't what I would have chosen for you to remember," she begins, "but that is a hugely positive sign. Another memory... I suggest you try to find more triggers, if that's possible. Perhaps seek out other members of the team."

"Sounds like a plan," Jesse replies. "Havin' trouble fittin' these bits of memory back into place, but... I dunno. Hopefully they'll come together eventually, right?

"If you're feeling up to it," Angela suggests, "everyone usually has breakfast around this time."

Jesse smiles. "Sounds good. You ready now?"

"Oh, I'm not going," Angela corrects him. "I don't usually attend. Besides, I have work -"

"Come on, Angie," he says, grinning, and the doctor beams at him at the use of her old nickname. "Everyone'll miss you. An' you can't stay in here workin' all day, right? C'mon." Jesse gives her his best winning smile, and after a pause Angela shakes her head and stands up, letting out a laugh.

"Alright. Let's go," she says.


End file.
